2009 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

Sep 30th, 2009 @ 10:33 am | Author: VCSU Sports Information

The VCSU Athletic Department will celebrate its 24th Hall of Fame Class with the induction ceremony Friday Night as part of the Homecoming Week Activities. Three individuals and four teams are to be honored. The Hall of Fame ceremony will begin with a social at the Eagles Club starting at 5pm with dinner and ceremonies at 6 pm. The honorees will also be presented at the homecoming parade Saturday morning and at halftime of the Homecoming Football game vs. Black Hills.

Tickets for Friday night's Hall of Fame Ceremony are $20 and a limited number are still available. Please contact B.J. Pumroy at 845-7160 for more information.

Below are the 2009 Hall of Fame biographies:

Randy Betsinger - Football
Randy Betsinger began his football career at the same time as legendary coach Jim Dew. The 1974 season was only time the team would lose more than two games in a season. A Valley City native Betsinger lettered a freshman and then made the honorable mention All-NDCAC team as a sophomore. The Defensive Lineman's largest achievements came both as an individual and with the team his junior and senior years. The 1976 team was the first in school history to advance to the NAIA Playoffs after going perfect in the conference. Betsinger made the All-NDCAC team as a junior. After tasting the playoffs the team did all they could in the 1977 campaign going 9-0 overall including a 6-0 NDCAC mark and finishing the season with a resounding 83-0 victory versus Huron College but the playoff bid was not extended. At the time the playoffs featured only four teams from around the nation. Betsinger was named First Team All Conference and Honorable Mention All District. His 76 and 77 teams previously have been inducted into the VCSU Hall of Fame.

Shauna Cochrane - Volleyball/Softball
Shauna Cochrane's was a four year letter winner in volleyball and softball and twice in basketball. Her career as a Viking started in a big way her Freshman season in volleyball. The 1988 team went 9-1 in the conference earning the WACND title, winning the NE Sub District and topping out in the District 12 Final Four. The team's final mark was 33-7. After slumping her sophomore and junior years, Cochran's final campaign came up oh-so-close. The 1991 team finished one game behind Jamestown for the Conference Title and were runners up to the Jimmies in the Sub District and had an overall record of 20-7.
Cochrane, a catcher from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba freshman experience with softball was also a great way to kick off her career. The 1989 team began the season with six games in Hawaii on their way to an 18-11 mark. In the conference their 10-2 mark was good for a WACND championship. After sitting out the 1990 season, Cochrane returned for her sophomore year making the All-Conference Team. Her senior year garnered the most individual awards. She was the team MVP and made the All Conference and All District teams. Her highest honor came in1993 by being named the NDCAC Most Valuable Graduating Senior. Her 1988 Volleyball and 1989 Softball teams previously have been inducted into the VCSU Hall of Fame.

Dwight Leier - Special Recognition Category
Dwight Leier's career as a cross country and track athlete combined with his achievements as a Coach and friend of VCSU athletics usher him into the category of VCSU Hall of Famer. Leier, ran on the first ever cross country team and lettered three times. He also competed as a distance runner in track lettering four times and earning 'Hardest Worker' award for both sports his junior year and Most Improved in Cross Country his junior year. His senior year he was a key member of the cross country team that is being honored with Hall of Fame induction and he competed at the NAIA National Championship Meet.
Beyond his college athletic career, Leier made the most of his 35-year coaching career and ultimately was recognized with his induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Hall of Fame in 2007. Originally from Esmond, Leier returned home and coached Football and Track and Field at Esmond High School before also heading the co-op program with Esmond and Maddock and eventually Maddock. He accumulated 249 football victories winning the state 9-man title once and finishing runner-up twice. These finishes headlined 17 state playoff appearances. He was a National Football Coach of the Year finalist and was named North Dakota 9-man coach of the year once while being a finalist on several other occasions. In 1995 Leier was inducted into the North Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

1967 Men's Cross Country Team- In only their third year as a varsity program the 1967 Men's Cross Country team led by Myron Loberg honored as the team's 'Most Valuable Runner as well as its 'Hardest Worker,' ran its way to its first NDCAC title after two straight years of being runner up to Jamestown College.

The harriers after finishing second in their first meet of the season racked up first place finishes in their next three meets prior to taking the Conference title on their home course. Under the tutelage of first-year Coach Jim McCullough the conference individual title was won by Loberg's time of 19:10.7 holding off a second place finisher from Jamestown. Dwight Leier's third-place time of 19:52 also held off Jamestown's second runner helping to insure the team title.

With those qualifying times seniors Loberg and Leier represented VCSU at the NAIA National Championship hosted by the University of Nebraska-Omaha on November 25. Loberg finished 77th and Leier 151st on the national stage featuring 300 runners.

The 1982, 1983 and 1984 Football Teams
Four times in history the Vikings Football teams have won three straight league titles. The 1926-28 teams, the magical stretch of six straight championships from 1949-54, and the 1976-78 title winners were joined by the 1982-84 teams as back to back to back champions.

The 1982 teams started the campaign with a tone setting triumph over Northern State and then took the Paint Bucket with a 7-6 nail biter over Jamestown. A loss to Dickinson was followed by four straight conference wins in which 6 points was the most allowed by the defense. The NDCAC Title was shared with Dickinson and the overall record was 6-2. Team MVP was Terry Babler. Paul Leier, Jim Theis and Steve Guenther made the All Conference Team with Guenther and Theis making Honorable Mention All-American. Jeff Pederson was named Academic All-American.

The 1983 team didn't get off to the same start as the previous season dropping a 10-9 tilt with Northern State. But like the previous year, the Paint Bucket stayed with its rightful owners with another dramatic close game this time 7-3 in the Vikings favor. Revenge came the following week with a 7-6 win over Dickinson then three more wins in NDCAC game. The final conference contest went to Minot and the teams shared the Conference Crown. Overall the team was 6-3. Team MVP was Jim Theis. He was named First Team All-Conference along with Jed Klein, Mike Smith, Jeff Volk and Randy Peitz. All District honors went to Theis, Klein and Volk. Klein and Volk made the Honorable Mention All-American Team. Mike Smith was named First Team Academic All-American and Jim Theis finished off his career being named First Team All-American.

In 1984 the team again opened with Northern and this time again they fell. And true to the previous seasons the conference opener was against a tough opponent and the Vikings prevailed in a tight one. This time it was a 9-7 victory over Dickinson. This was followed up with four straight conference wins including a homecoming triumph over last year's co-champions Minot. The outright title was denied by Jamestown in the final conference game as the Jimmies extracted some revenge from two previous close losses and the teams shared the NDCAC title. Overall the team record was 5-4. The team MVP was shared by Jeff Volk and Pat O'Brien. All Conference honors went to Pat Horner, O'Brien, Chris Lima, Steve Becher and Troy Johnson. All District Honors went to O'Brien, Becher and Horner with Horner and O'Brien also attaining Honorable Mention All-American honors. Bill Hiser and Jerry Krosbakken both earned Second Team Academic All-American honors.